When my gaze is fixed on my own desires, plans and intentions, my spiritual vision is obscured. I never noticed a swimming turtle or a deer resting silently in the trees or a snake having a frog for breakfast, as I walked those hundreds of times before. It was all about my body, my mind, my feelings. When I began to let all of that fall away, to walk with God and see what He is showing me, it changed my perspective on everything.
I still have my plans and intentions, but I can compare them to the turtles. What to do when my options feel limited, when my world gets small, cold and murky? Persist. And the deer, what do they do after a morning of travel and foraging? Gather and rest low in the woods in slices of sun. I can see and hear the cardinal and the Downy woodpecker, flashing by and knocking high, amid the dull woods of gray, stock-still and hollow. They toy with the lone walker: Here I am! I’m still here! Be curious and full of wonder! A groundhog pops up for a snort of fresh air. He takes note of the matters on his hill and as far as he can see. What does God have for me today?
But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Job 12:7-8
Meeting God at the Park 